At noon on the second day, Hua Mantian, who was investigating the cause of Qiao Zimei's death, hurried back to Miaoyin Hall and told Ling Zixuan: "Qiao Zimei's body has been discovered. ”

"Tell me more!" Ling Zixuan was surprised, he originally thought that Qiao Zimei had already erected a tombstone.

Hua Mantian said: "The subordinates went to the yamen to investigate Qiao Zimei's case, but they didn't find it, and then they went to Qiao's house, and Qiao's family only reported that she disappeared two days ago, not dead, but just now, the yamen sent someone to inform his subordinates that the person his subordinates were looking for today was found on the mountain." ”

When they went to the yamen, there were several officials guarding a corpse, one was performing an autopsy, and Hao Tianlin, the chief of the guard, was studying the case with Xie Chong.

Xie Chong and Hao Tianlin saw him and saluted separately.

A middle-aged man with gray hair and wearing a green brocade suit was crying bitterly, and he couldn't stand steadily, but fortunately there was a woman next to him who was supporting him, and that woman was Qiao Shanshan.

Master Qiao stretched out his trembling hand and touched the cold and swollen face of the corpse, and cried: "Mei'er, my daughter! ”

Xie Chong said, "Master Qiao, how did you recognize Ling Ai?" ”

Master Qiao said: "The skirt on her body was made by someone I asked, and a bunch of peach blossoms were embroidered on her waist. ”

Xie Chong glanced at the tattered skirt on the corpse's body, and on the dirty and tattered fabric around his waist, he could faintly see the pink peach blossom embroidery, and he comforted: "Master Qiao, please mourn!" ”

Master Qiao was extremely sad, dizzy and unsteady, his hand pressed his heart with a painful expression, Xie Chong immediately ordered someone to bring a chair for Master Qiao to sit down and rest, and asked, "Master Qiao, do you want to ask a doctor?" ”

"It's an old problem," Master Qiao shook his head, he hung his head and gasped for a while, through his breath, his eyes suddenly lit up, his hands grabbed Xie Chong's arm, the green tendons on his hands burst out, and said, "My lord, you must help me find the murderer, I want to ask him face to face, why did you kill my daughter so cruelly, I want to see him punished with my own eyes!" ”

Xie Chong comforted him: "Master Qiao, don't worry, we will definitely catch the murderer and bring him to justice!" ”

Ling Zixuan suddenly found that Qiao Zimei was standing next to the corpse at some point, she looked at her injured father, her brows were furrowed, and she was already in tears.

Ling Zixuan went over to look at the corpse, the corpse's white skirt was torn, there were deep and long scratches on his hands and feet, and his face was also scratched by sharp objects, and the corpse was soaked in heavy rain for several days, and he couldn't recognize his original face at all.

"Lord Wang, do you know this woman?" Xie Chong saw Ling Zixuan frowning and looking at the female corpse, so he asked.

"Tell me about the case." Ling Zixuan didn't answer, saying that he knew, but he didn't know much, he said he didn't know, but he did know a little about her.

Xie Chong looked at the frightened old woodcutter with a look on his face, and said: "It was the woodcutter who found her body when he was chopping wood, and the preliminary identification was that she fell off the cliff and died. ”

At this time, three servants came up with a tall, dark-skinned and unattractive young man, and the one who took the lead saw Master Qiao, and directly brought the man to Master Qiao, handed him a golden hairpin, and said, "Master, it just so happens that you are also here!" This person actually came to pawn with Miss's golden hairpin, and I recognized him, I was afraid that he had something to do with Miss's disappearance, so I immediately called someone to help press him to see the official! ”

Master Qiao took the golden hairpin with a trembling hand, looked at it carefully, the peach blossom-shaped golden hairpin was inlaid with a ruby in the center, which was the gift he gave her in the year of his daughter, and he said, "This ...... It's really my daughter's hairpin! ”

The man shook his head violently and waved his hand: "This is what I picked up!" ”

Qiao Zimei looked at the man with a faint fear in her eyes.

Xie Chong immediately opened a court to try this man, Xie Chong sat in the main seat, Ling Zixuan sat in the main seat to hear the trial, and Hao Tianlin stood next to him, Master Qiao was unwell, Lord Xie was very kind and gave him a seat to hear the trial, and Qiao Zimei stood silently beside him.

Xie Chong was shocked and said loudly: "Who is in the hall, report your name!" ”

The two officials knelt down with the man on the left and the right, and the man said: "The villain's name is Wang Bingquan, he lives in the second street of Muyong Xiaodao, he is a good citizen, this golden hairpin was picked up by the villain, and I don't know anything else!" ”

Xie Chong asked Master Qiao's servant, "Why are you so sure that this hairpin is Miss Qiao's?" ”

The servant who took the lead said: "This hairpin was commissioned by the young lady and the master to find the best craftsman to order, and the master also gave me a ruby that he has been collecting, saying that the young lady loves peach blossoms the most, and asked me to find someone to make a peach blossom golden hairpin, and to set this ruby into it." ”

Xie Chong nodded, and asked Wang Bingquan again: "Where did you pick up the golden hairpin, why did it appear in that place, tell me in detail!" ”

Wang Bingquan was very nervous, and his voice trembled: "In ...... Picked up on the Magnolia Bridge, the villain went over there...... The villain walks after dinner and blows the wind! ”

Xie Chong slapped the shocked wood hard: "What you said is true?" ”

Wang Bingquan was startled by the loud startle, and his tongue was knotted: "Yes...... That's right, villain...... Say...... It's all true...... It's true! ”

Qiao Zimei was in a hurry, walked up to Ling Zixuan, knelt down and said, "Lord Wang, he is the one who wants to kill me and cause me to fall off the cliff!" I also bit him his left wrist! ”

Ling Zixuan nodded slightly.

Xie Chong questioned: "Your family lives on the second street of Muyong Xiaodao, and you go to the Yulan Bridge a few kilometers away to blow the wind?" If you don't tell the truth, I'm going to pry your mouth open with a stick! ”

Xie Chong was immediately frightened: "Big adult, what the villain said is the truth, the truth!" ”

Ling Zixuan raised his thick eyebrows, "How did your wrist hurt?" ”

"This, this is a dog bite!" Wang Bingquan glanced at his wrist wrapped in gauze, and said indiscriminately, his parents are not there, he has no wife and children, and he has not fought recently, so he can only say this.

Ling Zixuan ordered: "Examine the injury." ”

He examined the injury and said: "Report to the prince, report to the lord, judging from the shape of the tooth marks on Wang Bingquan's hand, it must be caused by human bites." ”

Wang Bingquan shouted in panic: "You are talking nonsense! ”

Xie Chong slapped the shocked wood angrily, and shouted: "Come on, hit the fifteenth board!" ”

Wang Bingquan cried and shouted: "Wronged, my lord! ”

Two officials pressed him, one of the officials tortured, Wang Bingquan was beaten to the point of "yay", only six boards, he confessed: "The villain confessed...... Admit it! ”

After hitting the fifteenth board, Wang Bingquan collapsed on the ground.

Xie Chong asked: "If you don't recruit truthfully, you will be tortured again until you tell the truth!" ”

Wang Bingquan said weakly: "There is a man with a covered face, who gave the villain thirty taels and asked the villain to kill ...... To kill a woman waiting on the Magnolia Bridge in case he killed the wrong person, he also showed the villain a portrait of the woman, the woman fell off the cliff by herself, not me! Ask for mercy! ”

Wang Bingquan knelt and kept kowtowing.

Ling Zixuan's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Qiao Zimei hearing this, with a look of disbelief, he was sure that she already knew who was going to kill her.

Master Qiao opened his mouth and said: "That person has a portrait of my daughter, and he knows that my daughter will appear at the Yulan Bridge when she is young, this is a deliberate murder!" ”

"Master Qiao, has Ling Ai ever had a grudge against anyone else?" Xie Chong thought that this case was just an ordinary murder case at first, but he didn't expect that it would be a deliberate murder after investigation, who would kill such a weak girl?

Master Qiao replied: "I am often not at home, I go to other places to buy good jewelry and jade for the pawn shop at home, I don't know very well whether Mei'er has a grudge with anyone, but her personality has been gentle and kind since she was a child, and there should be no enemies, by the way, I know that Mei'er has a ...... Nice, but I didn't approve of it from the beginning, I think they have never been in touch. ”

"Nice?" Xie Chong asked.

"Yes, I live on the eighth street of Mu Yong Xiaodao, my name is Xiao Ran, and I am a scholar." Master Qiao said.

"Coincidentally, he is being imprisoned in prison for causing trouble, pass!" Xie Chong ordered to go down, and whispered a few words to the master.

Soon, Xiao Ran was pressed by the officials and brought up, kneeling under the hall.

Qiao Zimei looked melancholy, and her eyes couldn't leave Xiao Ran.

Xie Chong was shocked: "Xiao Ran, do you know Qiao Zimei, the daughter of the Qiao family?" ”

Xiao Ran replied: "Back to my lord, I know." ”

Xie Chong asked again: "What is your relationship?" ”

Xiao Ran lowered his head and was silent for a while, and when he looked up, tears were already in his eyes: "I love her but can't be together, it's a bitter mandarin duck!" ”

As soon as Qiao Zimei heard him say this, she covered her mouth and cried.

Xie Chong asked Wang Bingquan to recognize him: "Wang Bingquan, do you know him?" ”

Wang Bingquan knelt next to Xiao Ran, he looked at Xiao Ran's face carefully, and suddenly shouted as if he had discovered something: "Yes! Right! That's him! ”

Xiao Ran was at a loss.

Xie Chong asked: "Wang Bingquan, didn't you say that the person was covered with his face, why are you so sure that he is the masked person now?" ”

Wang Bingquan said: "Lord Hui, the masked man's eyes are a single pair, and so is he!" ”

Xiao Ran was shocked: "What masked man, what nonsense are you talking about?" ”

Wang Bingquan pointed at Xiao Ran: "You are the one who instructed me to kill Miss Qiao!" ”

Xiao Ran's face turned green: "Don't talk nonsense!" ”

Xie Chong patted the wood: "Quiet! ”

At this time, the master and a few servants hurriedly walked in, and the master handed a half-burned piece of paper over his head and said, "My lord, the little one followed the instructions of the adults to find clues in Xiao Ran's old house, and really found a half-burned portrait. ”

Xiao Ran was shocked when he heard this, he was in a hurry to move, he didn't notice that the portrait had not been burned out, he kept thinking about how to answer.

Xie Chong asked, "Wang Bingquan, can you describe what is special about that portrait?" ”

"It's just an ordinary portrait of a woman, nothing special, it's a woman in plain clothes," Wang Bingquan frowned and tried to recall, and suddenly remembered something, "That's right!" The woman was wearing the peach-flower-shaped hairpin I picked up, and the ruby on the hairpin was particularly eye-catching! ”

The master glanced at the half of the paper and said, "My lord, the portrait is burning the upper body of the woman, which is consistent with what Wang Bingquan said. ”

When Qiao Zimei heard this, she felt like she had been hit on the head, and her tears couldn't help but flow down.

Xie Chong was shocked: "Xiao Ran, what else do you have to say?" ”

Xiao Ran knew that the matter was exposed, and no longer pretended to be an infatuated man, his eyes became sharp and cunning: "My lord, I am also instructed by others, the real murderer is not me!" ”

Qiao Zimei was disheartened, she just wanted to leave, but when she heard this, she was completely stunned, she was kind to people on weekdays, and she didn't offend anyone, why did so many people want her to die? !

She suddenly remembered someone......

Xie Chong was also unexpected: "Say! ”

Xiao Ran said: "It is Master Qiao's wife He Jiao who instructed me!" She gave me three thousand taels of silver and asked me to kill Qiao Zimei! ”

There was an uproar in the audience.

This sentence confirmed what Qiao Zimei thought in her heart, and sure enough, her forbearance and cowardice again and again were exchanged for the most cruel punishment!

Qiao Shanshan, who had been by Master Qiao's side, was startled when she heard this, her face suddenly turned pale, and she looked at her father, and Master Qiao also looked at her in disbelief.